NZ250096A

NZ250096A - Bag, for containing bread, formed from plastics film with each open end formable into a pony: airflow constriction between ends to assist in wicketed inflation of bag

Info

Publication number: NZ250096A
Application number: NZ25009693A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Darryl John Wootton
Original assignee: Borden Nz Ltd
Priority date: 1993-10-29
Filing date: 1993-10-29
Publication date: 1995-07-26
Also published as: AU671388B2; AU7435694A

Description

<div class="application article clearfix" id="description"> 250 0 96 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION No.: 250096 Date: 29 October 1993 "Improvements in or Relating to Double Open Ended Bags" We, BORDEN (NZ) LIMITED, a duly incorporated New Zealand company of 74 Branston Street, Hornby, Christchurch, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- 250 -2- The present invention relates to improvements in and/or relating to bags, methods of forming such bags and marketable forms packaged in such bags and related means and methods. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bag formed from a film material or materials which will offer an alternative to existing forms. In some embodiments of the present invention, it is an object to provide a bread bag. In other embodiments of the present invention, it is an object to provide a bag capable of being inflated on a wicket despite being provided with two open ends, each of which can be formed into a pony ("a pony" being that tail type form created by crimping, clipping, taping, etc of a tubular end some distance in from the tubular end in order to achieve a sealed closure). In still other embodiments, an object of the invention is to provide a means whereby such bags as aforesaid can be pre-assembled for seal forming or can have the componentry thereof brought into an operative juxta position during or prior to bag forming. In a first aspect the present invention consists in a bag formed from plastics film material to have two open ends, each of which is capable of being formed into a pony with at least one end capable of being supported from a wicket, said double open end bag including, between its ends (and preferably adjacent a non-wicketable end), at least a partial airflow constriction which will assist a wicketed inflation of the bag for filling purposes. Preferably, said at least partial airflow constriction is a baffle formed as a gusset structure formed from a plastics film material. Preferably, said gusset structure is provided with perforations and/or is otherwise of a thickness such that, for securement of the contents likely to be received by said bag, the formation a pony at each end is required. Preferably, said baffle is in die form of a film partition that effects a substantial seal, albeit of a strength that may not be sufficient for securement of the contents likely to be received within said bag. Preferably, said bag is formed substantially as hereinafter described. -3- 250096 In a further aspect the present invention consists in, as a marketable commodity, a marketable object, (eg. a loaf of sliced bread or unsliced bread) disposed within a bag as previously defined, said bag having a pony formed at each end thereof. In a further aspect the present invention consists in a method of forming a bag from film material which comprises the steps of: longitudinally advancing a feed of plastics film to a combined folding and slitting station; at said combined folding and slitting station, folding said film into an at least partial overlying condition while at the same time cutting at the longitudinal fold line; and thereafter providing heat seals and slitting to provide the bag form. Preferably, such a bag is punched to provide a wicketable end. Preferably, said punching is through a single ply of the plastics material. Preferably, neither end of the bag being formed is sealed. Preferably, a longitudinal feed of a gusset forming strip feed of a longitudinally folded plastics film is longitudinally advanced with said first mentioned web of plastics material so as to be positioned between the longitudinally folded and slit plies to thereafter be sealed by a heat seals in the longitudinal direction to provide at least a baffle structure which, in the completed bag, will facilitate the inflation thereof when being wicket filled. Preferably, said gusset strip feed is perforated to provide a weakening thereof which will assist access to the contents that might be placed in the wicketable bag so that it does not matter which pony, of two to be provided after filling, is opened, ie. the contents are still accessible (although in a preferred form of the present invention, variable thickness bread slices may be provided in the bag). In a further aspect the present invention consists in a wicketable bag provided by a method of the present invention. In a further aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for forming a wicketable bag in accordance with the present invention or at least providing a bag that is as previously defined. . . 250096 -4- In yet a further aspect the present invention consists in bags, stacks of bags, a wicket having a bag or stack of bags, apparatus for forming such bags, a method of forming such bags, etc. all as hereinafter described with or without reference to any of the accompanying drawings. In still a further aspect, the invention consists in a method of fonning a bag (preferably wicketable) capable of being opened at one or other of two ends, each closed or to be closed as a pony, said method comprising the steps of providing bag forming plastics material in an elongate sheet passing said sheet past one or more sealing heads and forming said sheet into bags so that each bag has one or more ends positioned at a selected position. In still a further aspect, the invention consists in a method of loading sliced bread as a "loaf' into a bag comprising inflating a wicketed lie flat plastics bag that is open or openable at each end using air from the wicketed end, the bag having an at least partial airflow constriction between the open or openable ends, positioning the loaf in the bag while it is inflated and closing or fixing each end of the bag as a pony. The invention consists in the foregoing and also envisages constructions of which the following gives examples. Preferred forms of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a double ponied bag in accordance with the present invention as it would appear with a loaf of sliced bread therein, each pony being formed by clamping, clipping, taping, etc.; Figure 2 is a side elevation view of the marketable commodity of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevation, transversely, of the longitudinal advancement showing, in an expanded vertical scale, a top ply of a plastics film material, a bottom ply of a plastics film material, said two plies having been slit at the fold axis which is at tiie right hand end, and having, at the left hand end, one of the plies which is punched or to be punched to provide the wicketable end extending beyond the extent' 0 A 4 -5- 250096 of the other ply, the right hand end having, longitudinally heat sealed to each ply, a gusset fonning folded strip of a plastics material (which can be of a weaker material or thickness than the other plies of the plastics film); Figure 4 is a perspective view of the explained form of Figure 3 when being viewed from the transverse direction and showing how the preferred gusset strip has been perforated to ensure, once a pony is formed at either of the two ends, the back pressure providing baffle of the gusset can be easily broken should that ponied end be opened for access to the contents rather than that pony formed from the remnants of the wicketed end; and Figure 5 shows a diagrammatic view of a process of forming bags in accordance with the present invention and showing some of the apparatus thereof. In the preferred form of the present invention a suitable food grade plastics film material is used for both the gusset strip and the webs of the bag. Such material is preferably heat sealable so as to enable the easy forming thereof to the final bag form. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate appropriate plastics materials that might be used. The bag is one capable of being formed to provide a product storage zone 1 between two ponies 2, preferably formed with taping, clipping, clamping or other means at the seal zone 3. The ponies 2 are preferably formed from those regions indicated by the reference numerals 2A with respect to Figures 3 and 4. The overextending region 4 with its punched holes 5 provides the wicketable feature of the wicketable end 6 of the bag. Appropriate notches or the like 7 are preferably made in the plies 8 and 9. With a wicketable bag, open at one end and closed at the other, it is possible to inflate sequentially on a wicketed stack the uppermost bag for automatic filling and then removal from the wicket by either rupturing the film at the wicket holes or by cutting the same or tearing the same at some pre-determined zone so that the next bag in sequence can then be inflated, etc. With the present invention being directed to a double ended bag, each end of which is capable of being formed into a pony (irrespective of whether it is a bread bag or not), it is desirable that means be pvptfn&k -6- 2*0096 ;whereby such wicket inflation is readily achieved but there is no significant loss of the storage area of the bag. To this end, the gusseted structure 10 is provided adjacent the end 11 distal from the wicketable end 6. This gusseted form, preferably perforated at 12 to allow easy access should the pony of the end 11 be opened by a consumer rather than the pony of the end 6, allows little in the way of resistance to ready access to the contents in the zone 1. Indeed, the film from which the gusset 10 is formed and/or its perforations 12 may be such that the gusset, as a bulkhead, is broken even before access is attempted by an end user, ie. it is sufficient for the purposes of the invention that there merely be provided some semblance of a baffle, temporary or otherwise, which allows at least a momentary inflation which at least partially opens the gusseted bag sufficient for filling purposes. ;Formation of bags in accordance with the present invention is by a sequence shown in Figure 5 where a preferably printed web 13 of a thermoplastic film is advanced to a "centre" fold unit 14 which includes a slitting knife 15 which, substantially at the same time as the fold line is being fonned in the web from the feed 13, separates the material at such a fold line. The remnants of such a fold line providing the edge 16 of the end 11. ;From the "centre" fold unit 14 and its slitting knife 15, the film, in its overlapped condition substantially as shown in Figure 3 but prior to the sealing of the gusset 10 at 17, is held in its condition by a bottom gusset providing unit 18 the inner edge 19 of which positions the fold 20 of the gusset forming strip 10 such that the same can then be sealed at 17 by two skid sealers 20, (one for each heat seal 17). ;Not shown is the means (which can be any convenient heat sealing/separating unit) which then seals and separates the longitudinal feed at zone 21 to thereby ensure that the edges 22 (see Figure 4 of each top web 8) are sealed to the adjacent edge 22 of the material 9. ;A spool or roll of already overlapped plastics film which is to provide the gusset form 10 is shown as 23. This passes via a perforating wheel 24 to be interposed between the "centre" fold unit 14. This gusset fonning strip 10A can be seen ;-7- ;2*0096 has been sealed to the left (with respect to Figure 5) in position as shown in Figures 3 and 4 by the slide sealer 20 prior to the edges 22 being heat sealed at separation. Any appropriate bag stacking, etc. apparatus can be used. In the preferred form of the present invention the bag is formed so that it is open at one end and, save for the baffle forming gusset, is open at the other end. The gusset is preferably adjacent one end area and if of very light construction so as to not interfere with the thickness of the bag for handling purposes. Indeed, positioning of the perforated film near the one end of the bag, ie. that distal from the wicketable end, is advantageous as the existence of the perforated film would tend to put a hump in die bag and it would be difficult to automatically fill the bag in existing machinery if the gusset was not positioned near the other end of the bag. In the preferred form of the present invention only, the bag is a bread bag and it is believed that if the baffle is placed towards the bottom of the bag then it will still be readily possible to fill the bags using existing bread making machinery. In the preferred form, therefore, the edge of the perforated film of the gusset closest to the non-wicketed end of the bag would be positioned at a regular bread bag length from the pony closure crimp zone at the other end but, of course, this is not a limitation of the present invention. Nor indeed is it an essential feature of the present invention for bags in accordance with the present invention to be those adapted to be supplied from a wicket although the provision of bags in accordance with the present invention in a wicketable form does ensure that there is advantage to flow from the provision of the baffle forming gusset with its perforated structure. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that an interior film providing a bulkhead/baffle is adapted to be opened from the interior of the bag once a pony of the preferred double pony structure is opened. It is believed that a bag in accordance with the present invention including the method of forming it should find widespread acceptance over existing bags, means, methods, etc. </div>

Claims

<div class="application article clearfix printTableText" id="claims"> 250096 -8- WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A bag formed from plastics film material to have two open ends, each of which is capable of being fonned into a pony (as hereinbefore defined), with at least one end capable of being supported from a wicket, said double open end bag including, between its pony closable open ends, at least a partial airflow constriction which will assist a wicketed inflation of the bag for filling prior to pony closure.

2. A bag as claimed in claim 1 wherein said at least partial airflow constriction is a baffle formed as a gusset structure formed from a plastics film material.

3. A bag as claimed in claim 2 wherein said gusset structure is provided with perforations and/or is otherwise of a thickness such that, for securement of the contents likely to be received by said bag, the formation of a pony at each end is required.

4. A bag as claimed in claim 2 wherein said baffle is in the form of a film partition that effects a substantial seal, albeit of a strength that may not be sufficient for securement of the contents likely to be received within said bag.

5. A bag as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said bag is formed substantially as hereinbefore described.

6. As a marketable commodity, a loaf of sliced bread or unsliced bread disposed within a bag as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 said bag having a pony formed at each end thereof.

7. A method of forming a bag as claimed in claim 1 from film material which comprises the steps of: longitudinally advancing a feed of plastics film to a combined folding and slitting station; at said combined folding and slitting station, folding said film into an at least partial overlying condition while at the same time cutting at the longitudinal fold line; and thereafter providing heat seals and slitting to provide the bag form.

8. A method of fonning a bag as claimed in claim 7 wherein such a bag is punched to provide a wicketable end. 250096

9. A method of forming a bag as claimed in claim 7 or 8 wherein said punching is through a single ply of the plastics material.

10. A method of forming a bag as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein neither end of the bag being formed is sealed.

11. A method of forming a bag as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10 wherein a longitudinal feed of a gusset forming strip feed of a longitudinally folded plastics film is longitudinally advanced with said first mentioned web of plastics material so as to be positioned between the longitudinally folded and slit plies to thereafter be sealed by a heat seals in the longitudinal direction to provide at least a baffle structure which, in the completed bag, will facilitate the inflation thereof when being wicket filled.

12. A method of forming a bag as claimed in claim 11 wherein said gusset strip feed is perforated to provide a weakening thereof which will assist access to the contents that might be placed in the wicketable bag so that it does not matter which pony (as hereinbefore defined), of two to be provided after filling, is opened, that is, the contents are still accessible.

13. A wicketable bag provided by a method as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 12.

14.. A method of forming a wicketable bag capable of being opened at one or other of two ends, each closed or to be closed as a pony (as hereinbefore defined), said method being performed substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

15. A bag substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

16. A stack of bags as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5,13 and 15.

17. A wicket having a bag as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, 13 and 15, or a stack as claimed in claim 16, wicketed thereon with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

18. Apparatus when used in a method as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 12 and 14 a bag as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5,13 and 15 is the product

19. A method of loading sliced bread as a "loaf'into a bag comprising /\ X /V -10- 250096 inflating a wicketed lie flat plastics bag that is open or openable at each end using air from the wicketed end, the bag having an at least partial airflow constriction between the open or openable ends, positioning the loaf in the bag while it is inflated and closing or fixing each end of the bag as a pony (as hereinbefore defined). DATED THIS IV DAY OF /bJ- /W d PER ITS FOR THE APf AGENTS FOR THE APPUCANT </div>